


On Masks, Physical and Psychological

by rlin



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time
Genre: Angst, Angst without a happy ending, Canon Compliant, Canonical Character Death, Character Study, Gen, Heavy Angst, Link (Legend of Zelda) Needs a Hug, Minor Character Death, Self-Worth Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:56:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28301232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rlin/pseuds/rlin
Summary: The fourth child wore Twinmold's remains. Link gave him some of his masks, and completed the following trial: a simple enemy gauntlet. The child was waiting at the end, where Link gave him more masks. Then came the child's question."Your true face... What kind of... face is it? I wonder... The face under the mask... Is that... your true face?"
Relationships: Link & Navi (Legend of Zelda), Link & Saria (Legend of Zelda)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 28





	On Masks, Physical and Psychological

Link had a pretty simple childhood, growing up as a Kokiri. He was quite playful, as anyone up who lived among ageless forest children would be. After all, the forest brought playtime without end.

He always loved playing with Saria. The two were very close—they were like brother and sister.

However, Link was different from the Kokiri. Mainly because he was the only one of them who didn't have a fairy.

* * *

Link was tormented by the same nightmare once again. A stormy night, a lowering drawbridge, a girl and woman riding away on a horse, and a man in black on a dark horse.

He was abruptly taken out of his dream by a fairy. "Hello, Link! Wake up! The Great Deku Tree wants to talk to you! Link, get up!"

Link really didn't want to get up. He hadn't slept well, and the nightmare was more vivid than ever. All he wanted to do was to go back to sleep. The Great Deku Tree could certainly wait.

"Hey! C'mon!" the fairy shouted. "Can Hyrule's destiny really depend on such a lazy boy?"

Ugh. Fine then, if the Tree wanted to see him _that_ much. Link wasn't really sure why the fairy would exaggerate the importance of this meeting so much, though. Hyrule's destiny? Really?

He got up with a yawn.

"You finally woke up! I'm Navi the fairy! The Great Deku Tree asked me to be your partner from now on! Nice to meet you!"

Actually, that was great news. A fairy companion meant that Mido would stop teasing him for not having one. Though he probably would find something else to tease him about, especially since he was more than a little jealous of how close friends Saria and Link were.

Navi continued. "The Great Deku Tree has summoned you! So let's get going, right now!"

Fine then, he would have to see him. But Link really looked forward to telling the other Kokiri that he finally had his own fairy!

Saria was there to greet him as he left his house. "Yahoo! Hi, Link!"

Link climbed down the ladder to his house and walked over to Saria.

"Wow! A fairy!!" Saria exclaimed. "Finally a fairy came to you, Link! Wow! That's great news! I'm so happy for you! Now you're a true Kokiri, Link!"

Link grinned.

"Is that right? The Great Deku Tree has summoned you?" Saria continued. "It's quite an honor to talk to the Great Deku Tree! I'll wait for you here. Get going! Go see the Great Deku Tree!"

Link would. But not before letting the other Kokiri know first.

The others were happy for him, too. Except for Mido. He was unsurprisingly still jealous over how close he was to Saria and the Great Deku Tree.

But, as far as things were going, this was going to be the best day of his life!

Link watched Mido angrily step aside, and walked down the path to see the Great Deku Tree.

* * *

It was not the best day of Link's life. In fact, it was one of the worst.

He had been endowed with the knowledge of Hyrule's creation. How Din shaped the land, how Nayru created the laws that govern the world, and how Farore created creatures to uphold this law. And, as they left for the heavens, the Golden Goddesses had left behind the three golden triangles, the Triforce.

He had been given a warning: he must never let the wicked man in black claim the Triforce. Link knew that this was the man from his nightmares.

He was given a responsibility. Link was granted the Kokiri's Emerald, one of the keys to the Sacred Realm where the Triforce lies. He was told to meet the Princess of Destiny in Hyrule Castle, and to bring the Kokiri's Emerald with him.

And so, the Great Deku Tree, the one Link and the other Kokiri had looked up to as a father figure, withered and died.

Link stared at the dead Deku Tree for a full minute in disbelief.

"Let's go to Hyrule Castle, Link!!" Navi reminded him, though she also seemed distraught.

Link nodded absently. "Good-bye... Great Deku Tree..." Navi said.

He slowly turned around and forced himself to walk away.

* * *

Link's walk slowly sped into a run. He still was in disbelief that the Tree was truly dead.

Mido blamed him. Of course he did.

Honestly, even though Link knew it was beyond his control, he still blamed himself for the Great Deku Tree's death. Maybe if he was faster, he could have saved the tree. Maybe, then, he could stay in the forest and continue eternal playtime.

However, with the death of the Great Deku Tree, it seemed like that eternal playtime was soon coming to an end.

It took every bit of Link's will for him to not cry. As it indeed seemed like Hyrule's fate rested on him, he couldn't let the people of Hyrule down. He couldn't let them see their savior vulnerable or emotional. They would only judge him and lose their confidence in him. He would have to be like the heroes in the stories, staying determined despite everything.

Link was stopped at the exit by the boy guarding the exit. He was warned that he would die if he left the forest.

He continued on regardless.

He stopped at the bridge that lead out of the forest. He was nearly out of the forest he'd lived in all his life, and he was about to step into a much larger world, with everything that entailed.

Link composed himself and started to run across the bridge.

"Oh, you're leaving."

Link stopped suddenly at Saria's voice. He turned around and slowly walked to where she stood.

He was still a mess of emotions. He wanted to say something, but he couldn't get himself to speak. He was still resisting the urge to cry. Leaving the forest that was all he had known was hard for Link. He didn't want to have to say goodbye to a dear friend too.

Saria spoke. "I knew... that you would leave the forest... someday, Link... Because you are different from me and my friends. But that's OK, because we'll be friends forever... won't we?"

She paused for a moment. "I want you to have this Ocarina... Please take good care of it." She gave the ocarina in her hands to Link.

"When you play my Ocarina, I hope you will think of me and come back to the forest to visit."

Link so wanted to run back into the forest. He forced himself to walk away from Saria, towards the exit, before breaking into a full run towards the end of the forest.

He could _feel_ Saria's wistful stare even as he faced away.

* * *

Hyrule Field was unlike anything Link had seen before. It was a wide open area with barely any trees.

Link couldn't help but think that it was barren.

As soon as he was out of the forest, with nobody else in sight, he let his tears loose. He cried for what seemed like an eternity.

Navi comforted him.

Link was barely starting on his quest, and yet he felt like Navi was invaluable to him. She was there for what Link was through, and she understood how he felt.

After he had vented all his emotions, Link slowly composed himself. He had to be the hero that Hyrule needed. And heroes don't cry.

Link got directions from a rather chatty owl and went on his way to Hyrule Castle.

He didn't quite get there before nightfall. As such, he had to watch the drawbridge to Castle Town rise, cutting off the path right before he could use it.

Darnit. Well, seems like Link would have to spend night in Hyrule Field.

He was then attacked by Stalchildren. He spent the night fighting them. They were weak, but they gave Link a very worrying first impression of the outside world.

The world outside the forest, Link figured, was a very dangerous place.

* * *

Link was largely forced into the role of hero, but he was starting to learn to play his part well. He just had to force away his feelings, the ones that a hero obviously wouldn't have.

This was how he presented himself to Princess Zelda after sneaking into the castle. Not as a lonely, scared boy who barely knew anything that was going on. No, he showed himself as a stoic, determined hero, ready to save Hyrule.

Zelda asked him to collect the two other Spiritual Stones, the Goron's Ruby and the Zora's Sapphire, so that they could open the Door of Time to the Sacred Realm and claim the Triforce before the man in black, who was apparently named Ganondorf, could. She gave him a letter, as a token of his important quest.

That was the tightest Link stuck to his role and hid his emotions at this point. He realized that it may have been a bit off-putting to some people, how a 9-year old child was acting so aloof and emotionless, but it didn't let that bother him. After all, it would make sense after Link completed some heroic feat.

Link spent some time in Kakariko Village at Impa's direction, before using Zelda's letter to convince the guard to open the gate to Death Mountain Trail.

It was there and then he first heard about masks.

Apparently there was a mask shop opening up in Castle Town, and they were quickly becoming all the rage in Hyrule. Link decided that he would check out this mask craze.

Goron City was an interesting place. Instead of being in a forest like Kokiri Forest, or being in a wide open area like Castle Town or Kakariko Village, Goron City was in a large, spacious cave.

Anyway, he saw that there was a path from which very familiar music played, so he used a burning Deku Stick to light the Bomb Flowers and clear the path.

Though he still was tasked to save Hyrule, Link felt very homesick, and wanted to visit Saria. And so he walked through the path to the Lost Woods.

* * *

Kokiri Forest and the surrounding Lost Woods were the only places where Link felt comfortable acting as himself. The other Kokiri didn't really know what was going on, what Link had been tasked with. They didn't see a hero in him, just one of them who had left the forest.

He found himself in the Lost Woods, following the music, before finding himself in a clearing.

There was a weird platform in the middle that had the symbol that Link now recognized as the Triforce, as well as some sort of sigil in the center of _that_. Overhead, out of reach, was the entrance to some large ruinous building.

On a stump to the side, playing an ocarina, sat Saria.

Link walked up to her, and she stopped playing. "I've been waiting for you, Link! This is the Sacred Forest Meadow. It's my secret place! I feel... This place will be very important for both of us someday. That's what I feel. If you play the Ocarina here, you can talk with the spirits in the forest. Would you like to play the Ocarina with me?"

Link assented, taking out his own ocarina.

"OK, try to follow along with the melody I will play." Saria said. "Are you ready?"

She played a simple six-note melody and Link followed along. It was the tune that Saria was playing earlier, the tune that could be heard throughout the Lost Woods.

"Great! Great!" Saria said. "Please don't forget this song! Do you promise? When you want to hear my voice, play Saria's Song. You can talk with me anytime..."

It was good to know that whatever happened to Link, Navi and Saria would be there for him.

Afterwards, Link walked around the Lost Woods. He encountered a Skull Kid there, and he taught the Skull Kid Saria's Song.

"You know Saria's Song!" said the Skull Kid. "We should be friends! Here, take this!"

As a token of their friendship, the Skull Kid gave him a Piece of Heart.

* * *

Link was starting to get used to Hyrule Field, despite the lack of trees. Even though Hyrule Field barely had any trees, it didn't make the place any less alive. The field was covered in lush green grass.

He had learned to navigate the field more safely, as the Sun's Song allowed him to traverse the field solely by day. He couldn't do anything about the Peahats, that nuisance would always be there.

He was leaving Kakariko and on his way to Castle Town. As Hyrule Field was largely empty with no one else in sight, Link acted as himself. He spent a lot of his time walking in the field either talking with Navi, or talking with Saria with use of the song she had taught him.

They provided helpful guidance, too, as well as making Link feel less alone. Moments like these were when Link was the happiest, as they were the closest Link could get to those carefree days frolicking in the forest.

But he couldn't do so anymore, not when the fate of Hyrule was at stake.

As he stepped onto the flagstones of Hyrule Castle Town, however, he went back to hiding his emotions. His smile was replaced by a determined slight frown, and he wasn't nearly as outgoing.

He was in Castle Town so that he could check out the Happy Mask Shop. He had recently received the Goron's Ruby, became Darunia's sworn brother, and barely avoided a Goron hug.

(Saria was quite amused when she heard about Darunia's reaction to her song.)

He would have gone on straight to getting the Zora's Sapphire, but the guard at the gate of Death Mountain Trail was lamenting how he couldn't get a mask for his son. Link figured that he should help him.

After all, heroes have to help people.

* * *

Link quickly figured out why masks were so popular. They were like costumes, and they allowed people to pretend to be something else. It allowed the kid in Kakariko Graveyard to feel spooky, allowed the Skull Kid Link had taught Saria's Song to feel tough, allowed the Marathon Man to feel faster.

He also got the rather uncomfortable thought that the role of hero he was playing was also like a mask, in that he acted like someone else (a hero) when it was "on," instead of the carefree child who wore it.

The Hero's Mask, as he had come to think of it, was also very good at hiding the person behind it. He doubted that anyone outside of the forest knew what his actual personality was like.

He stared at the red and white mask that the Happy Mask Salesman had given him after Link sold the Bunny Hood.

"With this mask you can see into other people's minds... It's useful, but scary!" the Salesman had said. "Why is it scary? You may find out as you grow older and discover the true meaning of life..."

* * *

Link received the Zora's Sapphire from Ruto after she said some things he didn't understand. He was on his way back to Hyrule Castle to tell Princess Zelda, with much encouragement.

"You collected three Spiritual Stones!" Navi had said. "Let's go back to Hyrule Castle!"

Saria, however, was much more worried. "Link... I don't know what it is... I have this feeling of dread... The Castle... Yes, something bad is happening at the Castle!"

Then he arrived at the foot of the drawbridge. And he lived the very nightmare that had been tormenting him for days, if not weeks, before he started his quest.

After Ganondorf had left, Link retrieved the item that Zelda had cast into the moat as she and Impa fled.

It was an ocarina, much like the one Saria had given him, except it was light blue and had the crest of the Triforce. It was the Ocarina of Time.

What Link did next would be the subject of legends. He entered the Temple of Time, and played the Song of Time, at which the three Spiritual Stones took their places in the three hollows in the altar.

After that, the Door of Time opened, and Link walked through.

He saw the Master Sword, the legendary sword wielded by heroes. And he knew what he had to do.

* * *

Things did not go to plan.

Link now stood in the body of an adult, being told by a sage how the Master Sword had sealed him away because he was too young, allowing Ganondorf to steal the Triforce and conquer Hyrule.

It had been seven years since that fateful day, and as he left the Temple of Time after being told by Sheik to go to Kakariko, he felt his mental mask tighten on him.

Not only was he to be a hero, he was to be a grown-up. Adults knew everything and didn't cry when things went wrong.

He now had a title to give to the hero he was supposed to be. He was the "Hero of Time," but try as he might, he couldn't get rid of the doubt he held in his own value as a hero.

After all, he couldn't prevent Ganondorf from bringing ruin to Hyrule. He was no more than a failure.

* * *

Link held on to his heroic persona as tightly as possible. He wasn't Link, the scared and confused nine-year-old in the body of a sixteen-year-old. No, he was the Hero of Time, the man with the duty to save the world from Ganon's clutches.

The only time when he let his mask slip was when he was in private. He vented his emotions to Navi then, and Navi comforted him. After all, Navi knew everything Link had gone through.

It was moments like these that Link felt that he couldn't go on without her.

There was also Saria, but when Link tried to contact her using her song, the message she sent was not what he wanted.

"Great! You're safe! I knew I would hear from you again! I'm in the Forest Temple! The forest spirits were calling for help, so I went to check it out... But it's full of evil monsters! Help me, Link!"

* * *

Link was horrified to realize that the Kokiri didn't recognize him anymore. He was no longer Link, the one of them who left the forest. No, he was an adult, a stranger, who for some reason was accompanied by a fairy.

They didn't see the confused boy, they saw the Hero of Time, like everyone else did. And so Link, realizing that all they saw was the mask he made for himself, was forced to wear it even in the forest, the one place where he thought he could be himself.

It made him feel even worse when they asked him whether he knew where Link went. And at his core, he asked himself the same question. Where _had_ Link, the cheerful nine-year-old, gone?

* * *

At least Saria recognized him. However, she had awakened as the Forest Sage, so Link knew that he would probably never see her in person again. At least he could still contact her through the ocarina.

Link found himself in a clearing, standing in front of the withered husk of the Great Deku Tree. He saw a sprout just popping up above the ground, and leaned closer to investigate.

He felt himself being thrown back. Momentarily losing his composure, he let out a surprised shout.

The Deku Tree Sprout that had oh-so-suddenly popped up told Link that it was through his and Saria's efforts that he was able to grow once again.

He then proceeded to tell Link that he had grown up because he wasn't a Kokiri. No, he was a Hylian who had been taken into the forest because the Great Deku Tree knew that he would be a child of destiny.

It was probably meant to be a reassurance, but to Link it was anything but.

He was never truly one of the Kokiri, he never truly belonged, he was always meant to not fit in. It was always his destiny to go, scared and confused, into the world beyond. He was meant to lose his happiness and his friends, all in the name of saving Hyrule.

He wanted to cry, but heroes don't cry. Adults don't cry. So he didn't, he once again suppressed his emotions.

Once Link was in private, he let his tears fall, with Navi to reassure him. Once again, he felt like Navi was essential to him.

* * *

Every temple, every Sage awakened was a blow to Link. He felt more and more alone, as the passage of time and his quest separated him from his friends.

The Kokiri, those who he grew up with, no longer recognized him. He had to part with Darunia and Ruto, who were awakened as the Sages of Fire and Water.

Link still contacted Saria using her song, but he didn't confide in her his troublesome emotions. He mainly relied on Navi, the one companion that would always be there for him.

She was the only person Link allowed himself to show his vulnerability to.

He used the Master Sword and the Ocarina of Time to take control of the flow of time. He traveled back to his time as a child, and forward to the present.

In the body of a child, he ventured under the well of Kakariko. And there he found out that one of the villages that he considered safe had a dark secret.

He knew that Dead Hand would haunt him in his dreams.

Returning to the body of an adult, he took on the Shadow Temple, where he dwelt on Hyrule's dark past. He realized that the kingdom that he was saving wasn't so unambiguously good. Hyrule had a dark, bloody history that most people either were unaware of or were actively ignoring.

Even though he had to return to the past in his quest, he no longer acted like the child whose body he inhabited. The Hero's Mask was on far too tightly for that now. He wasn't Link, the traumatized child, he was the Hero of Time, using the form of a child to continue his quest against evil.

After he awakened Impa as the Sage of Shadow, he went to Gerudo Valley. In the wasteland, which was barren compared to Hyrule, he realized that Hyrule's fortune was also the cause of many of its woes. The kingdom was blessed by the presence of the Triforce, but it also drew jealousy, which lead to much harm.

He once again had to travel to the past and back to the present as he took on the Spirit Temple, where he awakened Nabooru as the Sage of Spirit.

The journey was hard, both physically and emotionally. Link was largely becoming emotionally dependent on Navi.

The fairy was always at his side, even up to the point where Link thrust the Master Sword into Ganon's forehead.

* * *

It was over. It was finally over. Ganon had been defeated, Hyrule had been saved. Link would no longer have to play the part of hero.

He stood in an endless expanse, with Princess Zelda.

"Thank you, Link..." Zelda said. "Thanks to you, Ganondorf has been sealed inside the Evil Realm! Thus, peace will once again reign in this world... for a time."

She frowned and put a hand over her bosom. "All the tragedy that has befallen Hyrule was my doing... I was so young... I could not comprehend the consequences of trying to control the Sacred Realm. I dragged you into it, too."

No, Link thought. It wasn't Zelda's fault. No, it was his fault. If only he had been able to wield the Master Sword as a child, if only he could have slain Ganondorf before he could have entered the Sacred Realm.

Zelda continued. "Now it is time for me to make up for my mistakes... You must lay the Master Sword to rest and close the Door of Time... However, by doing this, the road between times will be closed..."

She paused for moment. "Link, give the Ocarina to me... As a Sage, I can return you to your original time with it."

So Link was going back in time to undo the ruin that Ganondorf had brought upon Hyrule. He didn't really want to do it himself, but he was the Hero of Time. Heroes always are willing to make sacrifices for the greater good.

Link slowly placed the blue ocarina, the Ocarina of Time, in Zelda's hands.

Zelda spoke again. "When peace returns to Hyrule... It will be time for us to say good-bye... Now, go home, Link. Regain your lost time! Home... where you are supposed to be... the way you are supposed to be..."

Link knew what he was supposed to be. He was supposed to be that playful, carefree child that he was at the beginning of his journey. But he had been playing the role of the Hero for so long, that child seemed like a different person to him.

Zelda brought the Ocarina of Time to her mouth and started playing it. Link could feel its magic working, pulling him away.

The last thing the Hero of Time heard before vanishing were four words uttered by Zelda. "Thank you... Link... Good-bye..."

* * *

Link found himself in the Temple of Time as a child. Everything had been undone, the Master Sword was still sleeping, the Door of Time still closed.

Link checked his body in disbelief. He was a child once again, albeit a child changed by his journey and burdened by emotional baggage.

He looked up just in time to see Navi flying away, up, towards the window, and then she was gone.

Link stared in simple disbelief. His companion, the only one who now had a grasp of everything the boy had gone through, experienced, and lost, she was leaving him.

No one else had a hope of understanding. The future that Link had come from was undone, and Link would make sure that it would never come to pass. But that meant that nobody knew or would know what Link had gone through.

Even the heroic feats that Link achieved were undone, forgotten.

And Navi, the last link to his past and that future, was gone.

Link called after her, increasingly frantic and distraught, but to no avail.

She was gone.

Link forced himself to turn around, and step outside the Temple of Time.

* * *

Link was behind the Temple of Time, out of sight of the people of Castle Town. And he was crying.

He cried and cried and cried until his tears stopped coming forth.

He still half-expected Navi to be there, to comfort him. But she was gone, she had left him.

Saria no longer knew what had happened, she wouldn't understand. Navi would understand, but she had abandoned him.

For the first time in his life. Link felt truly alone.

He shouted curses addressed at Ganondorf, addressed at the heavens, addressed at the forces of fate.

He wondered what the point of it all was, why he had to go through anything, what it all meant, if it was just to be undone without a trace.

Being alone, he didn't have the mask on. He wasn't the Hero of Time, he was a lonely boy who had seen far too much for his age.

Zelda had intended for Link to reclaim his childhood, but he needed his innocence for that. And he had witnessed and experienced too much trauma to ever go back.

* * *

Composing himself was much harder for Link when he didn't have anyone to reassure him. But he was alone, and so he had to do so.

He eventually got himself together after venting his despair and outrage at the cruel, uncaring world that allowed all this to happen to him.

And, yet, the reality of the situation was sinking in. He was alone. He had been forgotten and abandoned.

He wasn't playing the part of hero at this moment. Then where was the kid who was playing it, the carefree and innocent boy? Link decided he didn't want to know the answer.

He steadied himself and hardened his face to the stoic frown that he had used as the Hero of Time. He needed to prevent Ganondorf from taking over, to prevent the terrible future he came from. He had to wear the mask once again.

* * *

The meeting with Zelda went differently this time. This was because there were some things that were different this time.

Firstly, unlike Zelda's dream, Link was not accompanied by a fairy. Link tried to keep the emotion out of his voice when he explained that the fairy had left him.

He was still hurting over Navi's departure.

Secondly, Link's eyes were distant, and they stared through Zelda. They were eyes that had seen far too much, much like the eyes of the soldiers who had fought in the Hyrulean Civil War.

Thirdly, Link's left hand bore the mark of the Triforce of Courage, the one proof of his adventure.

* * *

Link had successfully prevented Ganondorf from getting as far as he originally did. With Hyrule now safe, his role of the Hero of Time was now over.

He wanted to return to the woods. He knew it was dangerous to go alone, without a fairy, but he desperately wanted to find Navi again.

Not to mention that he associated much of Hyrule with the pain and suffering he went through on his journey. He wanted to get away from all of that.

Zelda insisted on seeing him before he left.

"You are already leaving this land of Hyrule, aren't you?" The Princess turned around to face him. "Even though it was only a short time, I feel like I've known you forever."

Link had warned her that Ganondorf would take the Triforce and bring ruin to Hyrule if they followed her plan of opening the Door of Time, but he had refused to give specifics. Zelda knew that Link had gone through a lot as a result of that, but not to what extent.

She didn't understand. Nobody would understand.

Zelda continued. "I'll never forget the days we spent together in Hyrule... And I believe in my heart that a day will come when I shall meet you again... Until that day comes, please... Take this..."

She held out a blue ocarina, one that Link knew all too well at this point. It was the Ocarina of Time.

"If something should happen to you, remember this song..."

She played a melody that was far too familiar to Link. It was the Song of Time, the song he had played in the Temple of Time to open the Door of Time.

Link followed along on his own ocarina.

"The Goddess of Time is protecting you," Zelda said. "If you play the Song of Time, she will aid you..."

And so Link rode away, away from Hyrule and into the forest.

He would now embark on a quest on his own, a search for his lost companion. He wasn't the Hero of Time anymore, he was Link, a boy desperately missing a dear friend. The fate of Hyrule was not at stake, but this new journey was much more personal for Link.

* * *

Okay, so this clearly wasn't Link's day.

He had had the Ocarina of Time stolen from him, then his horse, and then he was cursed into the body of a Deku Scrub, and now he was being yelled at by a fairy who had been separated from her brother.

The fairy eventually calmed down and introduced herself as Tatl. She (reluctantly) apologized for helping the Skull Kid mess with Link the way he did.

Tatl had decided to accompany Link until he could reunite with her brother Tael and the Skull Kid. Link was kind of glad to have company once again, but she wasn't Navi, and Link thought that she was frankly kind of a jerk.

The pair eventually made followed the tunnel they were in to end up in the interior of a building that was constantly producing noise, like a giant machine.

Link ran up a ramp and reached a door. He was about to open it when he was stopped by a voice behind him.

"You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?"

Link turned around to see the Happy Mask Salesman. Tatl seemed spooked and hid behind Link's hat.

The man introduced himself. "I own the Happy Mask Shop. I travel far and wide in search of masks..."

Link already knew who the Happy Mask Salesman was from his adventure in Hyrule, but he knew the Salesman didn't know that.

"During my travels, a very important mask was stolen from me by an imp in the woods."

It was probably that purple heart-shaped mask that the Skull Kid was wearing.

"So here I am at a loss... And now I've found you. Now don't think me rude, but I have been following you... ...For I know of a way to return you to your former self. If you can get back the precious item that was stolen from you, I will return you to normal."

Link knew he was referring to the Ocarina of Time.

The Salesman continued. "In exchange... All I ask is that you also get back my precious mask that the imp stole from me. What? Is it not a simple task? Why, to someone like you, it should be no means be a difficult task."

Okay, so the Salesman clearly knew a lot more than he let on. Link's status as a hero was a secret to everybody, only known to a select few like Zelda.

"Except... The one thing is... I'm a very busy fellow... And I must leave this place in three days. How grateful I would be if you could bring it back to me before my time here is up... But yes... You'll be fine. I see you are young and have tremendous courage. I'm sure you'll find it right away. Well then, I am counting on you..."

And with that, Link left the building.

* * *

Link found himself in a large walled city, stepping out of a clock tower.

Tatl immediately spoke her mind. "He gives me the creeps! That mask salesman was the... Sorry... just thinking aloud."

"But three days? Even if we never sleep, that still leaves us with a measily 72 hours! Talk about demanding! Well, don't just stand there! We're going to see the Great Fairy! Look, you wanna find the Skull Kid, don't you? The Great Fairy will know what he's up to. She watches over everything. And just between you and me, the Skull Kid is no match for the Great Fairy. Go to the shrine near the North Gate. You'll find the Great Fairy in there!"

Link wasn't so sure about the Skull Kid being no match for the Great Fairy. He was pretty sure normal Skull Kids weren't able to turn Hylians into Deku Scrubs.

His suspicions were indeed confirmed when he entered the fountain and found the Fairy fragmented. He had to retrieve the missing Stray Fairy from the laundry pool to restore her.

* * *

It was the third and final day, and Link was waiting for midnight.

He had realized that the Mask Salesman leaving wasn't the main bad thing that would happen if he missed his deadline. The moon was falling, and would snuff all life in Termina the morning after the third day.

Link had purchased a Deku Flower with a Moon's Tear, and had used the Flower to reach the door of the Clock Tower that would lead to the top.

He only needed to wait for the Carnival of Time to start.

Link's patience was rewarded when he heard the tolling of bells and the sounds of fireworks. He saw the Clock on the Tower rise and fall over, as part of the tradition that people stand on the clock itself during the Carnival.

Synchronizing with the explosions of the fireworks, the door opened, turning into stairs that lead to the top. Link quickly ran up the stairs.

He was at the top of the Tower now, and he saw the Skull Kid with Tael floating above. The Moon was looming close now, as it was only 6 hours from ending all life in Termina.

The Skull Kid turned around, tossing and catching the Ocarina of Time.

Tael spoke. "Sis!!!"

"Ah! Tael! We've been looking for you two." Tatl said. "Hey, Skull Kid, what if you gave that mask you're wearing back now? Hey, c'mon, are you listening?"

"Swamp. Mountain. Ocean. Canyon," Tael said, with urgency in her voice. "Hurry... The four who are there... Bring them here..."

The Skull Kid angrily swatted him away. "Don't speak out of line! Stupid fairy!!!"

"Nooo!!" shouted Tatl. "What are you doing to my brother? Skull Kid, do you still think you're our friend after that?!!?"

"...Well, whatever," Skull Kid said dismissively. "Even if they were to come now, they wouldn't be able to handle me... Hee, Hee. Just look above you... If it's something that can be stopped, then just try to stop it!"

The Skull Kid let out a shout, and the moon started falling faster.

Link quickly aimed a bubble at the Skull Kid. It wouldn't be much, but it was something.

It hit Skull Kid, knocking him off balance and causing him to drop the Ocarina of Time. Link ran over and grabbed it.

He suddenly recalled the words Zelda had given him before he left Hyrule. "The Goddess of Time is protecting you," Zelda had said. "If you play the Song of Time, she will aid you..."

Link was abruptly taken out of his flashback when Tatl slapped him in the forehead. "Snap out of it! What are you doing lost in memories?!? Get yourself together! Getting that old ocarina back isn't gonna help us!!!"

Tatl then shouted. "Somebody! Anybody!!! Goddess of Time, help us please! We need more time!"

And Link knew what he had to do.

* * *

It was the Dawn of the First Day again. The ocarina's magic had rewound the clock and undone everything.

Everything was undone, no one remembered a thing. Just like how Zelda had undone everything that had happened in Link's journey in Hyrule.

Link did not like the parallels at all.

Tatl looked around in shock. "W-What just happened?! Everything has... ...started over..."

Link looked up. The moon was further away, it was now where it was on his first day in Termina.

Tatl spoke up again. "Wha... What are you, anyway? That song you played... That instrument... ...That instrument!!! Wait! That's it! Your instrument!!! The mask salesman said that if you got back the previous thing that was stolen from you, he could return you to normal! Did you completely forget or what?"

* * *

The Salesman taught Link a simple six-note melody called the Song of Healing, which would heal regretful souls.

Link wished it could heal his own pain. But it at least allowed him to return to his normal, Hylian self.

He saw a mask in the shape of a Deku Scrub fall off him and clatter onto the ground, and he checked himself to make sure he was entirely back to normal.

The Salesman explained that the mask would allow him to take the form of a Deku if needed. Link was reminded of how people in Hyrule pretended like they were something else when they wore masks, but here, he actually _would_ appear as something else.

The Salesman also explained that the purple heart-shaped mask was an evil mask called Majora's Mask, and that it would bring misery and ruin to Termina if it was allowed to.

Link figured that that was why the moon was falling.

And so Link went about his second quest, once again having to fill the role of hero. Not necessarily by destiny, but through his own choice to fulfill his promise and to save Termina.

* * *

As Link had a sword in his Hylian form, despite being a child, the guards let him out of Clock Town onto Termina Field.

He was on how way to the Southern Swamp when he noticed a tree with a picture carved into it. Tatl seemed to recognize it and flew to it, so Link followed.

It depicted Skull Kid and the two fairies.

Tatl spoke up. "Oh! I remember this! Tael and I drew this with the Skull Kid when we first met him... He told us that he had been fighting with his friends and that they had left him all alone..."

She explained how she and Tael had encountered the Skull Kid curled up un a large log, taking shelter from the rain. He was lonely, so they gave him company. They became friends after that, and played together.

Link saw a bit of himself in that lonely Skull Kid, and that terrified him.

"I'm sure it was because he was always playing tricks, so nobody wanted to play with him," Tatl said. "But to do what he did just because of that..."

She trailed off, before speaking again. "And once he got his power..."

* * *

Termina was a dying world, condemned to meet its end once the moon struck. To stave it off, Link had trapped the land and himself in a three-day time loop with the Ocarina of Time's power. He quickly became jaded with this situation, resetting everything once he had accomplished everything he had done that "cycle," as Link had started to think of it as.

As Link ventured through Termina to free the Four Giants, Termina's guardian deities, he encountered people in distress and grief.

He quickly became familiar with their grief, and help them move past it. He used the Song of Healing to heal lingering spirits mired in regrets, leading to him getting a Goron Mask and a Zora Mask. He used the power of these two other transformation masks to overcome the trials that stood in his way. To keep everyone calm, he adapted himself to act like the people whose body were inhabiting, so nobody else could tell that they were talking to someone other than Darmani the warrior or Mikau the guitarist.

He helped those he met along the way, but the nature of the three day cycle meant that those people would not know him or his deeds whenever Link turned back the clock. It was too much like how Zelda had undone everything that had happened to Hyrule.

He also saw a bit of himself in many of the people around him. In the Skull Kid, he saw how lonely he was after Navi had left him. In the Deku Butler's son, the one whose body he had been cursed into, he saw the lost, confused child. In the Happy Mask Salesman, who knew much more than he let on, he saw how he had seen and experienced too much. In Darmani, whose regret was that he couldn't stop the evil in Snowhead, he saw his own regret in not being able to stop Ganondorf's initial takeover of Hyrule. Heck, even in _Tingle_ , of all people, he saw his own constant wish for a fairy companion, the one thing he had wanted growing up among he Kokiri.

Rewinding time reversed everything Link did, but he kept the masks he got as reward for his deeds. Each mask meant something to him.

And so, three days at a time, Link helped the land of Termina, despite how his efforts would eventually be undone when he played the Song of Time.

And through it all, he acted not as Link, the lonely and confused child who had seen too much. No, he was the Hero of Time again, come to save yet another land.

Link wanted to show his vulnerability so much, but heroes don't show pain.

* * *

Link had freed all four giants and had gained many masks from helping people. Now it was time to stop Skull Kid and end the three-day loop.

He stood on the face of the clock of Clock Tower, much like he had on that first cycle. But unlike then, when he was a lost, confused kid trapped in an unfamiliar body, he was a hero, prepared to stop the evil that threatened to destroy Termina.

Tael spoke. "Sis!!!" Tatl responded. "...Tael!"

Tael said those words that he had said on that first cycle, too. "Swamp. Mountain. Ocean. Canyon. Hurry... The four who are there... Bring them here..."

Unlike the first cycle, however, Link knew who those four were, and how to bring them here.

As he had that previous time, Skull Kid swatted aside Tael and shouted, "Don't speak out of line! Stupid fairy!!!"

Tatl knew things would be different this time too, as she and Link were the only two who knew about the cycle. "That's it!" she exclaimed. "I won't let things go the way you expect them to!"

"...Well, whatever," Skull Kid said dismissively. "Even if they were to come now, they wouldn't be able to handle me... Hee, Hee. Just look above you... If it's something that can be stopped, then just try to stop it!"

The Skull Kid let out a shout, and the moon started falling faster.

Link took out his ocarina and played a short tune. It was the Oath to Order, the tune he had been taught that would summon the Four Giants.

* * *

It was as if everything was frozen in place. The moon had stopped falling, as the Four Giants were holding it up. Skull Kid was out cold.

After what seemed to be an eternity, Tatl interrupted the silence. "It... It stopped. We did it! It stopped!"

After all this time, brother and sister were finally reunited.

"Hey, Skull Kid!" Tatl shouted at the unconscious Skull Kid. "Do you realize what you've been doing to everyone?!?"

"Wait... Sis... Don't..." Tael said. "Don't be so hard on the Skull Kid."

"Tael! Why are you protecting him!" retorted Tatl. "Aren't you mad at him for hitting you so much?"

"He was lonely... ...the Skull Kid," defended Tael.

"He was trying to destroy everything around him!" Tatl said indignantly. "That is not the same as a lonely child! We can't allow that!"

"The power of the mask made him do it. It was too much for the Skull Kid to handle."

"It's 'cause he doesn't know his place! On top of having a weak will and no strength of heart... he's a fool!"

"Certainly, he had far too many weaknesses to use _my_ power," a new voice said.

"Yeah! That's right! Admit your stupidity!" Tatl said, obviously thinking that she was talking to the Skull Kid. "...Huh?"

Majora's Mask lifted up, holding up the limp Skull Kid with it. "A puppet that can no longer be used is mere garbage." The mask detached itself from Skull Kid, allowing him to fall and hit the ground.

"This puppets role has just ended," pronounced the mask.

"It can't be!" Tael sad in disbelief. "Then that moon?"

The moon's mouth opened, and Majora's Mask lifted up into it. The moon's eyes started glowing.

"I... I shall consume. Consume... Consume everything." The voice of Majora's Mask reverberated through the ground. The moon started forcing itself downwards once again, and the Four Giants were visibly straining under the new force.

"Waahhhhh! This isn't good!" Tatl shouted frantically. "Let's go back! Let's go back! Hurry! The Song of Time! The Song of Time!!!"

Link looked in front of him. The pillar of energy that Majora's Mask had used to enter the moon was still there. He knew that he had to go in there, enter the moon itself, and stop Majora's Mask for once and for all.

Tatl was reluctant to go, but relented once he found out that even Tael was willing to go if needed.

Link ran into the pillar, and was sucked up into the moon.

* * *

The interior of the moon was a surprisingly peaceful, idyllic place.

It was a giant meadow, with one hill in the very center. On that hill was a great tree. There were five children under the tree, four of whom were running around it.

This place hit very close to home for Link. It painfully reminded him of his peaceful childhood in the forest. A place where he could play and run and laugh and be with friends.

But those days were long past, and forever gone.

If he was the child that he was when he was woken up by Navi on that fateful day, he would have wanted to play under the tree, in this peaceful place.

But that child was gone. He may have physically been nine or ten, but he was no longer a child.

His journey through Termina had taught him responsibility. He had to care for the people who lived there, help them, and meet his obligations for him.

He wasn't a child anymore. Much like how his first journey had made him a child in an adult's body, this one had made him an adult in a child's body.

This field, as pleasant as it was, was Link's last look at childhood before he finally accepted that it was gone.

After all, playtime could only last so long, and everyone had to grow up.

* * *

The first child wore Odolwa's remains. Link gave him some masks, and then was given a task. He navigated a platformer using the Deku Mask, and found the child. The child asked for more masks, and Link obliged. The child then asked a question.

"Your friends... What kind of... people are they? I wonder... Do these people... think of you... as a friend?"

No, they didn't. They had forgotten him, left him, never known him. After all, that was Link's lot in life, to be alone and forgotten. Whether it was when Zelda undid his first journey or when he wound back the clock in Termina by his own hand, everyone would forget him.

The second child wore Goht's remains. Link gave him more masks, and completed the trial that was given to him. The athletic track may have been a bit annoying, but he completed it with the aid of the Goron Mask. Link gave the child more masks at his requests, and then was asked another question.

"What makes you happy? I wonder... what makes you happy... does it make... others happy, too?"

No, it didn't. What made others happy was their problems being eased, but Link no longer took joy in that. Any satisfaction he took was only temporary, like how the problems in Termina he solved would only last as long as the cycle Link had trapped the land into. What originally made Link happy, playing with the other Kokiri, was no longer possible. Link realized he wasn't sure what made him happy anymore.

The third child wore Gyorg's remains. After giving yet more masks, Link completed an aquatic labyrinth using the Zora Mask. He was asked another question after giving away some more of his masks.

"The right thing... what is it? I wonder... if you do the right thing... does it make... everybody happy?"

No, it didn't. He couldn't save the dying soldier in the back alley of Castle Town. He couldn't reunite Anju and Kafei without letting Sakon rob the old woman. Making everyone happy was truly impossible.

The fourth child wore Twinmold's remains. Link knew the drill at this point, and gave away his masks, and completed the following trial: a simple enemy gauntlet. The child was waiting at the end, where Link gave him the last of his non-transformation masks. Then came the child's question.

"Your true face... what is it? I wonder... The face under the mask... Is that... your true face?"

Link knew the mask too well. It was the mask he had made for himself on his first journey and was forced to embrace. It was the mask he kept on after his first journey and throughout his second. Even if he didn't have any of his literal masks on, he kept the Hero's Mask on.

He knew what the face under the mask used to be. He was the playful nine-year-old Kokiri who longed for a fairy.

"The Great Deku Tree said that if a Kokiri leaves the woods, he or she will die!" the boy guarding the exit of Kokiri Forest had said. Link had shrugged it off when he left the forest, and later dismissed it, as he clearly hadn't died.

And yet, throughout his first journey, the innocent, carefree child had slowly died out, and was replaced by a jaded, cynical emotional wreck, who was not mature enough to be an adult yet had seen too much to be a child. It started when he first stepped on Hyrule Field, it was amplified when he pulled the Master Sword, it was completed when Zelda sent him back.

Link hadn't noticed at the time because of how tightly he wore the mask. The child had hung on while Link had the companionship of Navi, the last remnant of his childhood, but he was fully gone as Navi left.

No one else noticed because they only saw the mask, and not the face behind it. Link himself hadn't noticed until he tried to stop acting as the Hero of Time, and be Link once again. But he couldn't, that child was gone.

The journey through Termina had transformed Link into something else. Despite having the body of a child, he had matured and was much more like an adult.

Words echoed in his head, from when he knew the Happy Mask Salesman the first time. It was when he was given the Mask of Truth.

"With this mask you can see into other people's minds... It's useful, but scary!" the Salesman had said. "Why is it scary? You may find out as you grow older and discover the true meaning of life..."

Link now understood why it was so scary. The mask allowed him to see past the mask of what people wanted others to see, and instead see what the person truly was. The person that didn't want to be seen by the world.

Link had indeed met with a terrible fate. He had met with it simply by being a child of destiny. The only Hylian among the Kokiri, the Boy without a Fairy, a child in an adult's body, a child who had seen far too much. This was the person behind the mask, this was his true face.

* * *

The last child wore Majora's Mask itself. He was curled up at the foot of the great tree, instead of frolicking around it like the other four were.

After a moment, he spoke.

"...Everyone has gone away, haven't they? Will you play... with me?" Link nodded.

"You don't have any masks left, do you? Well, let's do something else. Let's play good guys against bad guys... yes. Let's play that." The child gave Link one last mask.

It was a transformation mask, in the image of his adult form, and yet different. The hair was white, the clothes where bluish-white, and the face was covered in red and blue markings. It was the Fierce Deity's Mask.

He had been told by one of the Gossip Stones that the Mask "contains the merits of all masks." And while the mask itself was new to him, he understood it all too well.

The Fierce Deity was physically what Link had mentally made himself. He was a tall adult with a massive sword that easily cast down evil, and was completely emotionless.

He was aloof and stoic, exactly what Link envisioned heroes should be like, exactly what his psychological mask had made himself.

And yet, the blank eyes were all too hollow. They betrayed how there was something wrong behind the mask, much like how Link became an all too traumatized person while tightly adhering to his heroic persona.

He stared at the mask, realizing that this being was what he had made himself into.

The child wearing Majora's Mask spoke again. "Are you ready? You're the bad guy. And when you're bad, you just run. That's fine, right? Well... Shall we play?"

Link was taken to a battlefield, to once again slay a great evil. And so he put on the Fierce Deity's Mask, taking on an all too familiar form.


End file.
